Officers seek suit immunity

Lubbock policemen file motion to be dismissed in Hampton case

The remaining Lubbock police officers named in the $30 million Hampton civil rights lawsuit filed motions Tuesday to be dismissed from liability.

Police Chief Ken Walker and officers David Houser, Keith Jobe, Brian McNeill and Roger Hearron are seeking qualified immunity, which relieves them of liability if the actions were reasonable and performed in their official capacity.

The other officer named in the suit, Mike Overland, was removed from the lawsuit on Aug. 26. The motions filed Tuesday state that Overland was responsible for the detention and arrest of the Hampton University women's basketball coaches after probable cause was obtained from witness identification.

The city of Lubbock and unknown EMS employees are also defendants in the suit.

The plaintiffs allege in their lawsuit that they were illegally detained by the Lubbock police because of their race and also that one of the plaintiffs was denied adequate medical care. Walker is also accused of having knowledge of discriminatory law enforcement practices in the police department, which he denies in the motion.

The arrests of Hampton University women's basketball coach Patricia Bibbs, her husband, Ezell, and former assistant coach Vanetta Kelso stemmed from a Lubbock police investigation of a scam at a local Wal-Mart on Nov. 16, 1998.

A woman who said she was approached by suspects attempting a ''pigeon drop scam'' in the Wal-Mart parking lot identified the Hampton coaches as the people who attempted the scam. The plaintiffs were arrested and held for several hours in the city jail. Police later cleared the Bibbs' and Kelso of all charges after reviewing footage taken by security cameras at the Wal-Mart that demonstrated they were inside the store when the alleged scam was said to have taken place.

Dirk Fillpot can be contacted at 766-8725 or dfillpot@lubbockonline.com